Mystery canoe from Hurricane Irma to be displayed at Cape Canaveral City Hall

One year ago, Hurricane Irma's fierce waves washed a submerged dugout canoe onto Indian River Drive in Cocoa, where the mystery watercraft likely struck dry land for the first time in centuries.

Radiocarbon dating has determined there is a 50 percent probability the canoe dates between 1640 to 1680 — making it at least 330 years old. There is a 37.2 percent probability the canoe dates between 1760 to 1818, with an 8.6 percent probability that it dates to 1930 or later.

This dugout canoe washed onto Indian River Drive in Cocoa when Hurricane Irma struck.

Courtesy of Randy "Shots" Lathrop

What's more, the dugout canoe is the first recorded in Florida that was made from red cedar, said Sarah Revell, Florida Department of State spokeswoman.

But the mystery remains unsolved: Who built the 700-pound wooden boat? And when?

Soon, Florida Bureau of Archaeological Research crews will transport the 15-foot canoe from Tallahassee back to the Space Coast. The historic canoe will go on display starting Sept. 28 in the community artifacts room at Cape Canaveral City Hall.

"I see it as potential. Technology is moving so fast when it comes to the different dating methods that are used in archaeology," said Molly Thomas, Cape Canaveral cultural programs manager.

The canoe was analyzed and preserved in a laboratory at the Florida Bureau of Archaeological Research in Tallahassee.

Florida Historical Society

"Even though we don't know exactly who made it and when they made it now, it's only a matter of time before the technology catches up. That's part of the reason we're excited to have it and keep it safe," said Thomas, who also chairs the Brevard County Historical Commission.

A welcome event begins at 4 p.m. Sept. 28 with presentations by Paleo West Archaeology and Cocoa photographer Randy "Shots" Lathrop, who discovered the canoe. The exhibit opens to the public from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

The city of Cape Canaveral will take possession of the canoe on indefinite loan, Thomas said. The log boat will remain on display in the community artifacts room until crews convert the old Cape Canaveral City Hall into a cultural center, perhaps in 2020. Afterward, the canoe will move there on permanent display.

More prehistoric canoes have been discovered in the Sunshine State than any other state, the Florida Division of Historical Resources reports. The oldest examples date to the Middle Archaic Period, 6,000 to 7,000 years ago. Native Americans, Europeans and American settlers built canoes in Florida over the centuries.

A close-up view of the Cocoa canoe.

Courtesy of Randy "Shots" Lathrop

Lathrop stumbled upon the canoe while bicycling on Sept. 11, 2017, along Indian River Drive just north of State Road 528, shortly after Irma's winds subsided.

Compounding the mystery, Lathrop noted the canoe featured square-headed iron nails, splotches of red and white paint, possible "rope burn" notches in the wood and evidence that an outrigger may have once been attached.

Revell has offered a few hypotheses, perhaps that the canoe was made from an old log in the 1800s or 1900s; that the canoe was made in the 1600s or 1700s, was used for many years and was modified over time; or the canoe was built during the 1900s, although the odds of this theory are low.

Last fall, University of South Florida Libraries created a 3D-image computer rendering of the canoe. And a University of Tennessee researcher has unsuccessfully attempted to determine the canoe's age using dendrochronology, or analysis of the tree's annual growth rings.